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HomeFurnishings.com has new owners

Web site hopes to broaden appeal to non-NHFA members

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, April 9, 2010

HIGH POINT — The National Home Furnishings Assn. has transferred ownership of its HomeFurnishings.com consumer Web portal to a new company in an effort to broaden the industry appeal of the Web site to non-NHFA members.

The new company, HomeFurnishings.com LLC, is led by Doug Kays and John Sullivan of marketing and technology firm JGSullivan Interactive, which was involved in development of HomeFurnishings.com and still hosts the Web site. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Launched in October as a Web marketing initiative for retailer members of the NHFA to connect with consumers, the portal now includes more than 3,000 retailer microsites and draws more than 50,000 consumer site visits per month, officials said.

Kays, a past NHFA chairman who helped spearhead the program, is the CEO of HomeFurnishings.com LLC. The new company will be responsible for funding the Web portal and expansion initiatives.

While retailers and other industry companies no longer need to be NHFA members to participate, NHFA did retain the rights to the related Certified HomeFurnishings.com Retailer program, which means that preferred retailer designation will require NHFA membership.

HomeFurnishings.com was always seen as an all-industry tool, Kays said, but in the process of rolling it out, the site and NHFA hit a roadblock.

"We were doing great with our own members, but not penetrating outside (NHFA)," Kays said. Other industry groups - from retailer buying groups to other industry associations - were interested in what HomeFurnishings.com was accomplishing, but declined to join because they were competitive organizations to NHFA in one way or another, he said.

In a release, Kays said demand from other industry groups to participate helped drive the decision "to form a new company outside of NHFA and take this portal to the next level."

"NHFA remains an integral industry partner in the promotion of the retailer and supplier to consumer Web portal, although membership in the NHFA will no longer be a requirement of participation on the site," the release said.

When asked whether NHFA members and others will pay the same to take part, Kays said there are "several different scenarios under which groups can participate." He declined to release the price details, though, saying he will be meeting with various groups during the High Point Market this month and would be able to release more details at that time.

The new company, based in Chicago with JGSullivan, now is designing programs for buying groups, vertically integrated companies, and industry manufacturers and suppliers so they and their dealers can connect online with the consumers through the portal.

The expanded program also will provide a way for suppliers to promote their brand and dealer locators on HomeFurnishings.com in a way that keeps the provided information specific to their brand, even when the consumer clicks through to a local dealer that carries more than one brand.

For manufacturers that don't have a dealer locator, HomeFurnishings.com can become that resource, too, again keeping the information supplied to the consumer specific to the brand.

"The bottom line is we really believe HomeFurnishings.com can serve the entire industry, and what this strategic transfer of ownership does is make that dream possible," Kays said. "It gives us the ability to move forward on equal footing with all components of the industry."

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HomeFurnishings.com shifts ownership

Apr 17, 2010

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